Iron Army
The Iron Army is effectively the Asian branch of the Armor Corps Coalition, in charge of monitoring and acting in regions such as China and South East Asia. Despite this, the Iron Army is technically still a separate entity from the ACC, and thus has some degree of autonomy. Due to the Great Hibernation, the Iron Army's role in China evolved from simply observation to soft intervention, and recently, direct intervention as the ACC attempts to stabilize the region while preventing its fall into the hands of undesirable factions and/or superpowers. History and Status In the early years of the Human-Vannai War, the Armor Corps set up an information hub of sorts in Taipei. However, after Taipei was nuked in Operation Skeleton: Clear Sky, the majority of the population moved to Kaohsiung. To prevent rebellion from the population, the ACC allowed Taiwan to form the Iron Army, an autonomous government, with terms and conditions stipulated in a series of agreements that granted powers to the Iron Army such as the capability to declare war without ACC approval, and the execution of treasonous pilots, with conditions such as the ACC's right to pick the High Officer out of a pool of candidates. However, through the threat of cutting off supplies and pilot support as their sole effective defense, the ACC still effectively ruled over the Iron Army. Tasking them with observation of China and South East Asia, the ACC then largely left the Iron Army to their own devices, choosing An Guo as the High Officer to lead the Iron Army. When the Great Hibernation happened, the Iron Army were invited to sent a representative to the Warlords' Summit. Believing this to be a chance for the ACC to secure allies and possibly territory of their own in China, High Officer An Guo requested the involvement of ACC pilots in operational and diplomatic capacities. This started a series of events that changed the landscape and fate of China forever. Currently, after defeating the Luo, the Iron Army also controls the territory of Xinjiang, which is far away from Taiwan as well as being sandwiched between Bandit and Huang territories. With An Guo continued to act rashly, the Iron Army is stretched to its utmost limit, leading the High Officer to consider alliances that he would've found to be revolting just a few months ago. Population, Industry, and Military With a compartively tiny population of 6 million, with many lost during Operation Skeleton: Clear Sky, the population of the Iron Army are largely concentrated in the south of Taiwan, around the new capital of Kaohsiung. The people live under military rule, with the Iron Army military also being their government. However, life under the Iron Army is rather relaxed, with free enterprise and basic rights ensured for all. This is largely possible due to the trade and support incoming from the ACC and ACC allied states. The Iron Army's industries remain largely unchanged since before the Human-Vannai War, even retaining a sizable tourism industry, which was a focus of An Guo, believing that culture and entertainment should not be compromised for a nation to prosper. Compared to the rest of China, the Iron Army did not have to largely expand their agricultural or manufacturing sectors either, importing what they need from the ACC, which are incentivized to appeal to the Iron Army in the interest of maintaining its last truly allied territory in Asia, especially after the The Dokuritsu Insurrection. The Iron Army's military is rather unique as well. Due to the defensive pact with the ACC, the Iron Army's direct combat forces are usually pilots from the ACC. As such, to provide maximum support to these pilots, the Iron Army has focused their military development on support capabilities such as communications, detection, and transportation. The most remarkable of these is their Central Communications Tower (CCT), which is a facility capable of maintaining full encrypted contact with suit pilots and their own personnel all across China. Another unique point of the Iron Army is their focus on information gathering. To this end, they maintain an immense network of informants and spies throughout China, which are able to supply them with information usually only accessible by those within a faction. The Iron Army is also home to the Private Military Contractor branch of the JKHI, whose Dolls are used to bolster the low amounts of front line personnel the Iron Army maintains, in case of the need to deploy their actual defense force rather than just relying on ACC pilots. Significant Members An Guo (安国) The current High Officer of the Iron Army. An Guo is a non-pilot who was specifically picked by the ACC to lead the Iron Army. Contemplative and passive, An Guo does not seem like a leader at first glance, but his thoughtful policies and methodologies are rather well accepted by those that he rules. Having lost his children and grandchildren in the nuking of Taipei, An Guo oddly does not hold a grudge against the ACC, believing that the greater good was at stake and it was a measure of last resort that led to the decision. Recently, the events that conspired both within the Iron Army and in China has made An Guo grow weary as his usual methods of slow analysis and careful implementation is simply not enough to keep up with the quickly shifting tides of politics and allegiances within the region. Above all, he finds the actions of the pilots sent by the ACC to be brash and unpredictable, which is rather different from his image of the ACC as being mighty and infallible. This frustration has somewhat changed the man to become more bitter and decisive, traits which many of his subordinates find rather alarming from the once serene and friendly old man. Keng Si （恳思） A former Second Lieutenant of the Iron Army and personal secretary of An Guo, Keng Si was caught facilitating Zau Yi during Zau Yi's unlawful arrest and was subsequently sent to Switzerland to be interrogated. Before the Great Hibernation, Keng Si often served alongside ACC pilots as front line support personnel despite not possessing a suit himself. His bravery and achievements quickly saw him rise through the ranks, eventually becoming personal secretary to An Guo, who treated him like the son he lost in the nuking of Taipei. No contact was made with Keng Si after he was sent to Switzerland, even at An Guo's request. It is likely that he has died during the interrogation process, and the ACC is witholding the information about his death to prevent any possible damage to An Guo's morale. Tan Ning Hui （陈宁惠） A Corporal of the Iron Army and current personal secretary to An Guo. Ning Hui is rather young girl, which is not really a rare sight in the Iron Army due to its meritocratic nature and the loss of a majority of its older population after the nuking of Taipei. A non-pilot, she has always looked up the suit pilots all across the world as heroes ever since personally witnessing one in combat. Her obssession with suit pilots eventually culminated in her becoming the founder of the Vertex Fangroup Society of Taiwan, with her personal favourite pilot being the PC pilot, Marauder. Despite her girlish temperament, she takes her job very seriously, trying her best to support a more bitter An Guo despite the mental stress associated with the job. Category:PACYOA: TE Category:China